Aggreko chief awarded for Scottish power firm's rise to FTSE listing

Published on Friday 14 May 2010 21:05

AGGREKO chief executive Rupert Soames went from presenting trophies to winning them yesterday as he walked away with the top prize at a prestigious awards ceremony.

Having presented prizes at the Scottish Engineering dinner on Thursday night, Soames was the recipient of the top gong from the Scottish Business Achievement Awards Trust (Sbaat) at its annual lunch.

The award caps a busy period for the Aggreko chief, who carried off a hat-trick of prizes at the Scotland PLC Awards last month.

Soames joined the company in 2003 and has led the temporary power supply company into the FTSE 100.

The Sbaat prize was presented to Soames by the Princess Royal, the trust's patron, while The Scotsman was the media partner of the awards. Soames said: "It was a huge honour to be recognised by Sbaat, and to receive the award from Her Royal Highness."

Soames beat off competition from James Milne, chairman and managing director of the Balmoral Group, and Tom and Alan Fergusson, joint owners and managers of coal merchant Fergusson Group.

Founded in 1982, Sbaat has raised close to 3 million for Scottish charities while recognising achievement and promoting excellence within Scottish the business community.

Peter Vardy, chief executive of the eponymous chain of car dealerships, walked away with the young achiever award. Having worked in the family business founded by Reg, his grandfather, Vardy founded his own firm in 2006 with one showroom in Perth. He now has six and last year turned over 139m.

Vardy, 31, said: "Being recognised with this award amongst some great names within the Scottish business community is a very humbling experience.

"I really must give credit to my many colleagues who are working so hard to make Peter Vardy a successful company."

The international award went to Malcolm Howat, executive chairman of Howco Group. Howat launched Howco in 1982 and the oilfield services supplier now has operations in the UK, the US, Canada, Singapore, China, Norway and the UAE.